We’re not going to suggest Mike Babcock start lobbying for his own cooking show on the Food Network, but the Maple Leafs coach was able to mix the ingredients at his disposal and come up with the right recipe on Wednesday night.

The Leafs, featuring three new lines, put an end to a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks before an announced crowd of 15,628 at the Honda Center.

As Ducks fans cheered whenever the World Series score was flashed on the centre-ice video board, showing the Houston Astros beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7, the Leafs got the better of their hockey team on the ice.

“Any time you’re struggling, you need to find a way to win a game and get your confidence back and get rolling, so this is a big win for our team,” Babcock said.

“I thought (Tyler) Bozak had a really good game. I thought him and Mitch (Marner) were really dominant in the first period in particular. We need them to be good, so that was great to see. (Patrick) Marleau, what can you say? His 100th game-winner. I thought (Ron) Hainsey was real solid.”

The victory gave Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen that much more reason to smile, as it was his first game at the Honda Center since the trade that sent him to the Leafs in June 2016.

The Leafs improved to 8-5-0 and avoided losing four in a row in regulation for the first time since March/April 2016. Randy Carlyle and his Ducks fell to 6-5-1.

Not that it gets any easier for Toronto on Thursday night, when the Leafs meet the rested Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.

As Babcock mentioned, Marleau scored the 100th game-winner of his National Hockey League career, coming at 1:09 of the third period. After Ron Hainsey’s shot from the point got through, Marleau used a backhand to slap the puck past Ducks goalie John Gibson.

“Been around a while, I guess,” Marleau said. “It’s pretty cool to say you have 100 of them. Hope there is a lot more where that came from.”

With 1:38 remaining, the Ducks thought they tied the game, but Jakob Silfverberg was ruled to have kicked the puck in. A review determined as much.

“It looked like he turned his foot, so the referee felt he directed the puck with a kicking motion,” Carlyle said. “As far as we’re concerned, you can turn your foot, but I don’t know if that deems a kicking motion. That’s the way it goes.”

Seconds later, Leo Komarov then scored into an empty net.

Desperate to find some offence and an overall winning combination in his forward group, Babcock stuck with the new lines that were unveiled at practice on Tuesday.

The trio of Marleau between James van Riemsdyk and Connor Brown was effective, with Brown scoring in the first period. Ditto for Bozak and Marner, who were aided well by Matt Martin.

Not nearly as good was the Komarov-Nazem Kadri-Josh Leivo group, which had trouble getting organized. In a fit of frustration at the end of one shift, Kadri slammed his stick against the boards at the Leafs bench.

Babcock said he will put forward Kasperi Kapanen in the lineup in Los Angeles, as well as defenceman Roman Polak. Leivo is likely to come out, though it was not as clear which defenceman will be excluded.

Curtis McElhinney will start in goal for the Leafs.

Overall, the Leafs were hungrier than they have been in recent games and were able to avoid the kinds of turnovers that have been plaguing them.

Andersen finished with 28 saves. Only Ondrej Kase, on a shot that went off Andreas Borgman and in at 9:09 of the first period, scored for Anaheim.

Hainsey had two assists and all nine of the defenceman’s points this season — all assists — have come at even-strength. What’s remarkable is only Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues, with nine even-strength points, has as many among NHL defencemen this season.

And Hainsey leads the NHL in total shorthanded ice time. In short, the 36-year-old has been a revelation for the Leafs.

“You get lucky,” Hainsey said of his production. “We have a group of forwards here where the name of the game is get it to them as quick as possible when they are fresh, or shoot it at the net.”

Marner, meanwhile, has not scored since opening night in Winnipeg and his goal-less streak has hit 12 games, the longest he has gone in his two seasons in the NHL without scoring.